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Saturday, August 21, 2010

Aullwood: Jean Brueggenjohann

Tomorrow, or rather later on today, the Aullwood show will come to a close. I will try to finish up rather quickly, but I will do so in a series of posts.

Jean Brueggenjohann is the artist featured in this post. Jean uses a variety of techniques, and if I were to characterize her work, I would say that she employs a lot of surface design techniques (printing, dyeing or painting fabric to create her own fabric designs which she then uses to make her quilt designs) and that her quilts tend to have a graphic quality.

I admit, I'm starting with this one as I love warm reds and gold. This is Dry Hill. I think this one is interesting for a variety of reasons. I love the use of color and how the blue pops out on the red ground with the glitter of the gold. I also like the segmented quality.

I think it is particularly interesting that while Jean uses a lot of her own fabrics, this one uses commercially printed fabrics. I own some of the same black and gold (I think...although she could have printed this one). Many art quilters print and dye their own fabrics to get exactly what they want...

Here's what Jean had to say about this piece: "The quilt is based on sunsets where I grew up, an area in central Missouri , in the country, called Dry Hill. It is a rocky, hilly area covered with trees. I have always liked the graphic look of trees in the winter. I have added a few colorful leaves to add to the overall composition. I used multiple techniques including machine applique with satin stitching and hand and machine quilting."

The lovely warm colors of this piece, When the Sun found the Moon are dyed and over printed. Interestingly, Jean created the shibori centerpiece by dyeing in the microwave. "I loved the overall design and it spoke to me of the Sun and the Moon and the seasons. I added more structured side panels to anchor the overall shibori center. The piece was machine pieced and hand quilted."

Her last piece is Union Square Horses, so titled because she purchased the fabric at Union Square in San Francisco. "I made this quilt based on a metal horse sculptures that I had seen. I wanted something very playful and very fun like my trip to San Francisco. " Machine appliqued and machine quilted.

Once again, Jean has used commercially printed fabrics to good effect. I love the small horses at the base of the center panel.

Jean lives in Columbia, MO. Check out her website here. You'll find a lot of other interesting pieces.

Thanks, Ruth Anne. The reason that I went several days between this and the last post was that I was struggling with whether or not I should continue. Pam Geisel's comment on my previous post gave me heart to do this one, and now yours (and Pam's comment--as well as Joan Sterr's comment) as well as some of the MVAQN members tells me I should continue.

I started doing the postings of smaller and Ohio shows I go to because I felt that many people may have entered, but didn't have the opportunity to attend and see what else was in the show, or their piece hanging. In addition, I feel that there are a lot of good artists or pieces which are out there and do not have a lot of exposure to the greater world.

I try my best to contact each quilt maker prior to showing the works here...sometimes it is difficult to chase down the quilters...sometimes using Google doesn't bring them up for me, in the case of Jean, I got lots of possibilities for doing geneaology on the Brueggenjohann name....but I finally "found" her through a query on the Artquilt list.

Recently, I got a response from one of the artists which gave me pause. She didn't like the shots that I showed of Kathleen Irons Sweeney's work....it was "unprofessional."

I don't put myself forth as a professional. In the case of Aullwood, some of the pieces are just hard to shoot. Then again, sometimes when I put the image up on the computer, it shows that it isn't as good as what it looked like on the viewfinder. Then, I am stuck in the dilemma of deciding whether I should leave it out, and risk alienating the artist, or include it and apologize for the image. Certainly, I don't show really awful shots, but I do the best I can and sometimes Photoshop Elements is cantankerous....at least on this old computer.

A blog is a blog...one person's view of the world....and I'm grateful for your kind words because I too think it is important to both get the art quilters recognition as well as to share. I know that I am stimulated by seeing other people's work, and for many of us, we live in areas which are remote, have few shows, or have personal issues which prevent us from getting out. So...I will continue, professional or not.

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About Me

Lisa Broberg QuintanaPlanted in Michigan, divided to Connecticut and transplanted to Ohio. Stage IV breast cancer survivor (for 14 years and counting), 1st occurrence at age 34. Rabid quilter and gardener, lover of beauty. All of the photos and words on this blog are mine. Please do not use them or reprint them elsewhere without my prior permission.